The top row counts hundreds. Add hundreds, tens and ones, each on their own.
A third row counts hundreds. Ten ones make a ten, and ten tens make a hundred, so one bead on the top row is worth a hundred.
Add the hundreds, the tens and the ones, each row on its own, just as before.
A row with no beads still counts, as zero. The zero holds the place, or 406 would look like 46.
Check that your answer makes sense: 300 and 100 make 400, plus a bit more.
These are some of the questions on the sets. The printable sheets have more, with the bead frame drawn for each, and an answer key.
378. Hundreds: 1 and 2 make 3. Tens: 3 and 4 make 7. Ones: 2 and 6 make 8.
539. Hundreds: 2 and 3 make 5. Tens: 1 and 2 make 3. Ones: 4 and 5 make 9.
458. The tens row starts empty. 0 and 5 tens make 5 tens. 3 and 1 hundreds make 4. 2 and 6 ones make 8.
406. The 0 in 406 holds the tens place, so there are no tens.
Ask a grown-up to help you count a small shelf of books and a second shelf, up to about two hundred each. Add the hundreds first, then the tens, then the ones, and see whether the total makes sense.
Use real books, cards or coins in piles of a hundred, a ten and singles, and let your child add one pile type at a time.
